Piedmont Triad International Airport
Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO, KGSO), commonly referred to as PTI, is an airport located in unincorporated Guilford County, North Carolina, west of Greensboro, serving the Piedmont Triad region of the state. The airport is located off of Bryan Boulevard and sits on a 1,526 hectare campus. PTI is the third busiest North Carolinian airport behind Charlotte Douglas and Raleigh-Durham, with average traffic sitting at around 280 departures and arrivals per day. History Maynard Field, a predecessor of PTI Airport and one of the first commercial airports in the South, was dedicated on 6 December 1919 near Oak Ridge. Maynard Field had two intersecting runways measuring 1,890 and 1,249 feet long, and was named in honour of Lt Belvin Maynard. By 1922, Maynard Field had competition to the west with Miller Field in Winston-Salem, and Charles Field. Piedmont Triad International Airport, GSO or PTI, started in 1927 when the Tri-City Airport Commission selected 45 hectares of land near the community of Friendship for an airport, and petitioned to become a stop across a congresionally authorised mail route between New York and New Orleans. Greensboro and Guilford County jointly purchased the Friendship property from Helen G Lindley and Paul C in May 1927, and renamed it Lindley Field. The field had no runways, lights or hangars at the time. Regular mail service commenced in 1928. Pitcairn Aviation was given the contract to fly the airmail route, with the airline making its first delivery on 1 May 1928. After a brief closure during the Great Depression, PTI airport reopened on 17 May 1937 with two all-weather runways. Pitcairn Aviation built a hangar soon after. Greensboro built a passenger station; the US Government established a weather bureau and the Department of Commerce set up a radio tower. Passenger service was inaugurated by Dixie Flying Service commencing operations between Washington DC and PTI on 6 November 1930. Pitcairn Aviation took over the route soon after under the name Eastern Air Transport, which later became Eastern Air Lines. In July 1942, the airport responsibility was given to the Greensboro-High Point Airport Authority. Shortly thereafter, the Army Air Corps used the airport and its facilities for war use, and airmail and passenger service was discontinued. The Corps lengthened the runways and built a new passenger terminal. Civilian service resumed after the war. A new passenger terminal opened in 1958, replacing the temporary facility that had served since World War II. During the time, PTI was served by Eastern Air Lines, Piedmont Airlines and Capital Airlines. During the 1970s, the airport was renamed Greensboro-High Point Airport, and then later Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem Regional Airport. Work on a new facility began in 1978, allowing the airport to gain prominence on the East Coast, with airlines such as Delta Air Lines and Untied Airlines offering passenger service. Cargo carriers also expressed interest in the airport. Piedmont Airlines originally expressed interest in establishing a hub at the airport, but later opted for Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The new terminal was completed in 1982. The following year, Marriott opened a $16M 300-room hotel on the airport property. The airport was renamed Piedmont Triad International Airprot in 1987. TIMCO Aviation Services, now Haeco Americas, opened its world headquarters at PTI in 1990, and eventually grew into one of the largest independent aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers. In 1993, Continental Lite established a hub at PTI, but was quickly lost by 1995. In 1998, FedEx Corporation announced intentions to build a mid-Atlantic hub at PTI, including a construction of a parallel 9,000ft runway. Comair, a carrier for Delta Connection, built a maintenance hangar at PTI to perform work on their Bombardier CRJs in 2005. The airport also opened a North Concourse, adding an additional 0.37 hectares to the terminal, and brought the number of gates to 25. PTI also opened a 0.4 hectare expansion to the main terminal to accommodate security gates at the North and South Concourse. FedEx opened its mid-Atlantic Hub in 2003. Honda Aircraft Company selected PTI as its global headquarters three years later. Allegiant Air commenced service to Orlando Sanford International Airport and St Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in late May 2007. PTI completed construction of a new 9,000ft parallel runway in 2010. In 2011, PTI began a renovation project that included new furnishings, automated baggage handling, free wireless internet, charging stations for passenger devices and interactive kiosks. In 2017, American Eagle announced nonstop service to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. In 2018, Spirit Airlines announced service to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport and Tampa International Airport. Terminals And Facilities Completed in 1982, the terminal building of Piedmont Triad International Airport currently has 26 passenger gates: 14 on the North Concourse and 12 on the South Concourse. Both Concourses are the same size. There are two passenger accessible levels of the terminal, with the top one being used for ticketing, security and boarding and the bottom one being used for baggage claim and ground transporation. Previously, an US Airways Climb, American Airlines operated an Admirals Club across Gate 45 to the South Concourse. The Admirals Club was permanently closed in 2018. Virtual Groups Airlines As of February 2020, the only airline performing regular scheduled flights out of PTI is Carolinair. jetPiedmont will become the second commercial airline to service the airport on 20 February 2020. Outer Air Cargo is the only cargo airline to operate out of PTI. Management PTI is managed by the North Carolina Civil Aviation Administration. Runways And Navigation Runways Navigations PTI has three departures - QUAK7, TRI9 and TRISHA1; and four arrivals - BLOOC2, BROOK3, HENBY3 and TRAKS2. The approaches respective to PTI are: *ILS Y or LOC/DME **ILS Z or LOC/DME Category:North Carolina Category:Airport Category:Major Domestic Airport